MonacoGate Highlights W.Va. Recusal Rule

The demand has not ended for justices to recuse themselves from a pending Supreme Court case involving Massey Energy Co., following the withdrawal of Chief Justice Elliott "Spike" Maynard.

But as The Associated Press reports, the rule governing recusal requests remains unchanged: the justice under fire gets the final say.

"It is the individual justice's decision," Caprice Roberts, a law professor at West Virginia University, told AP. "There's an incredible amount of discretion."

The article also examines Massey's lawsuit challenging the recusal rule, filed just after the Monaco meet-up between Maynard and its boss, Don Blankenship.

The saga has prompted editorials in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, The Herald-Dispatch of Huntington and the Parkersburg News, among others.

The Supreme Court has set a March 12 rehearing for the $76.3 million judgment against Massey at issue in the case. The Charleston Gazette, meanwhile, reports that another, much large judgment against Massey is headed to the Supreme Court.

The Maynard-Massey matter continues to attract press attention beyond the state's borders, with this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Update: The Charleston Daily Mail calls for Starcher's recusal in an editorial. Starcher had asked for more time last week to consider stepping down, according to the rehearing order. Lawyers for Harman Mining Co. and Hugh Caperton also want to see his withdrawal -- but only if Justice Brent Benjamin goes as well, their statement last week said (both documents posted by Public Broadcasting).